Meta Hit With Record AUD409M Fine for Data Scraping
Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (MPIL), the operator of Facebook, has received its third significant fine in 2023 from the Data Protection Commission (DPC) in Ireland. This AUD409 million penalty is the largest so far this year, bringing the total fines to over AUD651.7 million.
The DPC fined MPIL for data scraping, which involved the personal information of over 533 million Facebook users. This data included names, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, and location details. The inquiry focused on Facebook Search, Facebook Messenger Contact Importer, and Instagram Contact Importer tools used between May 2018 and September 2019.
The DPC found that MPIL violated the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by not adequately protecting user data by design and default. The fine includes an administrative penalty and an order for Meta to comply with GDPR rules and undertake remedial actions. Meta confirmed the data was scraped rather than hacked and cooperated with the DPC investigation.
This is Meta's third DPC fine in 2023, with previous fines totaling AUD625.4 million and AUD26.3 million. Other privacy agencies have also fined Meta this year, totaling over AUD1.19 billion in fines for privacy breaches. Meta must now comply with the DPC's orders to protect user data more effectively.
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